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Some Sweet Advice For Salaam From The Nfl's All-time Best

"I have a boatload of ideas to make this guy better than me, and I'd be willing to give them to him," Payton said.

Or maybe sell them.

"Call it Payton's Camp: Beyond the X's and O's of Football," Payton said. "I'd love to do that."

Payton thinks Salaam and a lot of other young running backs could benefit from an off-season school similar to the kicking schools that attract so many pro prospects and players.

"This is a thought I'd like to send out to NFL coaches," Payton said. "I don't know it all, but because I've been there, there's a lot of things I can offer.

"Couple months before training camp, twice or three times a week, work on weights, flexibility, strength, nutrition, and how to handle himself on and off the field."

So why doesn't the NFL's all-time leading rusher just do it? "How do I get started? I don't want to step on anybody's toes," he said.

Payton was on the Bear sidelines Sunday when Salaam broke the club rushing-yards record for rookie runners but was benched after three fumbles. Salaam finished the year with nine fumbles.

"I talked to him, but when you have three or four fumbles, there's not much you can say," Payton said. "He runs straight up, so nobody is standing him up. Everybody is just grabbing him. When you start fumbling in key situations, that label goes around with you. Every defensive coordinator says, `Hey, he's a big runner and he'll get his yards, but if you go for the ball, it'll be on the ground.'

"That's why he breaks a lot of tackles. People are going for the ball and he's running through those arm tackles."

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner said Salaam needs the benefit of a training camp to condition him to carrying the ball while tired. Payton thinks Salaam could benefit from more hands-on coaching during games. Bears' backfield coach Willie Peete is in the press box instead of the sidelines.

"It's doing Salaam a disservice, because someone should be watching him every time he lines up. Every time he runs the ball, someone should be critiquing him, letting him know how to make himself better or if he's doing something right," Payton said.

When Payton was a rookie 20 years ago, coaches said he tried to score every time he touched the ball. He wasted energy and sometimes yardage. Last week, the Eagles said Salaam's problem is similar: While he tries to use his strength to get the extra yard, it only gives defenders an extra shot at the ball.

"There's nothing to that," Payton said. "You've got to run the ball the way that got you there.

"He's a rookie. He's very young. He has a lot of talent, a lot more than I had. He needs a guy on his butt every time he does something."

Wait a minute. Better than Payton? More talent?

"He's faster, stronger than I was, younger," Payton said.

All he needs is time. And Payton's grooming school.

The off-the-field aspect to Payton's idea is interesting. Payton worries that his sport is alienating fans because of franchise free agency. He said he is just as glad, by the way, that he didn't become a part of an expansion team in St. Louis, not with the current chaos.

"Everybody's getting standoffish and breaking their ties with the NFL because they don't want to be hurt in case their team leaves. They say, `OK, I'm going to distance myself so if they do leave, I don't feel so bad,' " Payton said

"That's why I'd like to work with players to get them back into the grace of the fans."

On that front, Salaam, youngest player in the league, is miles ahead of such so-called leaders as Eagles running back Ricky Watters. While Salaam stood like a man in front of the cameras Sunday after his fumbles, Watters cowered like a kid in front of his locker after gaining 13 yards in 12 carries. Watters had a team official tell reporters a foot away that he would have no comment.

Bear fans should be thankful for Salaam despite his fumbles.

"The only thing I had going that he doesn't have, I guess, is that recklessness," Payton said. "I wanted to attack everybody. I had anger. I was like two different people. When I was on the field I was mad. When I came off, it was a totally different thing."

But elusive both places.

What would Payton do about those fumbles?

"If he comes to my camp, I'd teach him."

One more thing: When Payton was a rookie, he finished with nine fumbles, but no fumbler label ever stuck.